Knox BOE approves transferring nearly $4M to magnet school

The Knox County School Board approved a plan Wednesday night to transfer nearly $4 million to a new magnet high school.

The money will come out of Pond Gap Elementary School's funding and go toward the new Career Technical Education Center on Pellissippi State's Strawberry Plains campus.

The center will allow high school students to take college courses that will help them get their associate's degree.

Knox County Schools superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre said the new school will open career pathways for students.

"It will be a magnet school that will focus on four different career pathways that lead to high demand, high wage, high skill jobs for our kids and that leaders in industry in our region have told us are important areas for us to focus on for the future," he explained.

Those four areas will be in teacher preparations, homeland security, sustainable living, and advanced manufacturing.

The new magnet school is expected to open next fall.

The board also voted to fully implement Common Core standards. Dr. McIntyre says that will help students to learn critical thinking skills and allow teachers to go more in-depth on subjects.